Is Your WordPress Website Safe From Hackers?

Websites are being hacked at never before seen rates. Keeping your website secure from hackers has never been more important. Some people are pointing an accusing finger at WordPress as it seems that more WordPress sites are being hacked than any other platform. Since many, if not most of you have websites using WordPress, this becomes a pretty important question: Is your website safe from hackers?

Let’s address the question about WordPress up front. Wordpress is probably one of the most secure platforms you could be using. The reason that so many hackers are going after these sites is it’s popularity.

Nearly 25% of all websites online today are built on WordPress. This means that hackers have a far larger batch of targets with WordPress than with any other platform.

Your website can still be relatively secure. The fact is that with enough time and effort, any site can be hacked. Hackers will always go after the low hanging fruit though, so if you do some due diligence you can protect your site from all but those hackers bent on getting to you specifically.

Here are some basic questions to ask yourself as well as some best practices to make your site far less attractive as a target:

Is your WordPress username “admin”? – This is the default username on so many sites that hackers will frequently move on if this is not it.

Do you have ALL of your login information? – You should have the login for your Domain Registration Company (GoDaddy, NameCheap, etc.), your hosting provider (HostGator, BlueHost, etc.) and of course your WordPress login.

Is your website backed up (a copy of your website AND database) at least every two weeks? – If your site goes down, this is the quickest way to get it back up with the least fuss and muss.

Are your Passwords too easy to figure out? – If they are all the same, based on your domain or company name or your own personal info then they are too easy to figure out. You should either use a randomly generated password or one that uses a phrase along with a number and a symbol. Change them regularly.

Where is your WordPress login page located? – If it is at YourDomain.com/wp-admin it is way too easy to find. It should be moved or secured.

Will these things guarantee that your WordPress website cannot be hacked? No, as stated above any website can be hacked if enough time and attention is taken. Addressing these will protect you from all but less than 1% of site hack attempts, and then you will still have minimized the time and effort it will take to get you back up and running again.

Peak Reputation will be happy to do a complete website checkup for you at no cost. We can tell you exactly where your vulnerabilities are and make appropriate recommendations to insure you minimize your exposure to hackers. We will also make recommendations to optimize your site for Search and Social Media marketing opportunities.